Why Employee Benefits Are So Crucial in 2021

The events of last year led many employees to question their priorities. Employee perks such as team social activities and free snacks in the office, once attractive, were rendered unnecessary when the workforce went remote. Conversely, people are starting to take their health and finances more seriously. As such, benefits like health insurance, flexible work arrangements, and salary advances may be more attractive to employees in 2021.

Retain Talent With the Right Benefits

Employee benefits offer companies a way to tell their workforces that they care about them and their well-being. The more that staff feel they are looked after by their employer, the less likely they are to look for other jobs. Many studies have shown that it is not just career progression that employees consider when deciding whether to stay in a job. Work culture, salary, company reputation, and employee benefits are also very important considerations for today’s workers. Offering impactful employee benefits is a great way to cultivate loyalty to the company and reduce staff turnover.

And Attract New Talent, Too!

Employee benefits are not just important to your current staff members. When competing with other companies for the best and brightest recruits, you need to make sure that your offerings are competitive. As previously stated, a truly competitive offer requires more than a nice job title and reasonable salary. Deciding which company to work for is one of the biggest and most important decisions of a person’s life, and therefore, candidates are drawn toward companies that have attractive job offers and robust benefits packages. Offering a lot of meaningful employee benefits makes your company more likely to stand out from the countless other offers your candidates are sure to receive.

Promote Staff Well-Being

By offering meaningful employee benefits, you are taking care of your employees. This is as important from an employer’s perspective as it is from the employee’s point of view. Employees feel like their company is taking care of them, and that makes them want to stay. And for the employer: Healthier employees means fewer sick days are taken. The healthier your workforce, the greater the team productivity and efficacy.

When speaking about staff well-being, it’s important to consider not just physical illnesses, but also stress and burnout. Burnout is an especially prominent buzzword as we continue to work from home. Be sure to offer stress-management related employee benefits, too, to help keep staff motivated.

Which Employee Benefits Are the Best?

Formerly trendy employee benefits like gym memberships, vacation days, on-site massages, and free food in the office are now rather pointless for many workers. Instead, employees are starting to think more seriously about the benefits that will serve them in the long term.

Health is a key concern of many after the events of 2020, and even younger staff members are starting to think more seriously about health insurance. Another thing that many have come to see as valuable is flexible working style. Working from home has been a blessing in the eyes of a lot of employees, as it has allowed them to say goodbye to the commute and the difficulty of juggling work with domestic duties. Going forward, work-from-home days and flexible working arrangements may be key employee benefits that many top candidates seek.